Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to discuss this very important legislation dealing with the Canadian institutes of health research as introduced by the Minister of Health earlier today.
As Canada enters a new century, the Government of Canada, along with the research community, recognizes that there is a tremendous opportunity to transform the funding of health research in Canada.
In 1998, a national task force on health research drew on the views of leaders and stakeholders in the granting councils, the teaching hospitals, the universities, the health charities, the provincial health research agencies, the health institutes and the business community. The task force proposed a major transformation in our approach to health research and recommended the creation of the CIHR.
By creating the CIHR, the Government of Canada has taken the first step toward creating a national health research strategy aimed at engaging all health research partners. This will position Canada very well as we move into the 21st century and, as such, is a very exciting proposition.
Canada's health research community has been given the chance not only to create Canada's premier health research enterprise, but also to do something very important for our country. In the next few months, the vision of a cutting edge, integrative and collaborative health research community in Canada will take shape and thus become a reality. That too is very much in keeping with what Canadians want.
The CIHR represents a revolutionary approach to health research in the country. It will reposition health research in a strategic way, funding and co-ordinating all federally supported research around an integrated health research agenda. This integrated approach will help to identify gaps in current research and lead to new strategies to address research shortcomings.
A priority of the CIHR will be to make a good link between health policy and good health research, in step with national health objectives, which is very important. It will incorporate the best of current approaches and practices to capitalize on existing strength while avoiding disruption of the excellent research work already under way.
There is a growing appreciation among stakeholder groups that an environment is needed where all sectors of health research are simultaneously welcomed, where areas lacking in capacity can be bolstered, and where all health researchers are encouraged to work together to solve complex and multifaceted health problems. The opportunity to exchange ideas and findings with fellow investigators is rare in the research world. Through this collaborative approach, research results will be shared to greater advantage and ultimately the creation and application of new knowledge will in fact be accelerated.
Canada's diverse health research community has rallied around the CIHR because they know that by transforming Canada's health research sector, everyone wins. They continue to play a key role in building this new organization as participants in a national dialogue in the CIHR development, leading up to the establishment of this key organization. In fact, this whole exercise to create and design the CIHR has been done in a very transparent and open manner.
The CIHR will bring together Canada's best investigators from a full spectrum of health research under a single umbrella to form a national brain trust of health researchers. This multidisciplinary approach will be organized through a framework of virtual institutes, each dedicated to a specific area of focus, linking and supporting researchers pursuing common goals. New synergies and networks will be forged across disciplines, including basic biomedical research, applied clinical science, health services and health systems and society, culture and the health of populations.
CIHR is an example of Canadian innovation and will mean a brain gain for Canada. New investments and better training will keep Canadian researchers in the country and maintain Canada's ability to develop world-class researchers in health in this area. The CIHR will bring the best and the brightest minds together to unlock then the mysteries of health.
As we see in the legislation, Bill C-13 will establish in law the federal government's commitment to the full range of health research inquiry. This will include an area of explosive growth, research into the social, cultural and environmental factors that affect the health of all Canadians. How, for example, does the health of Canadians who live in my part of the country differ from those who live in other parts of the country?
Through its support of both medical and social research, the CIHR will ensure that we as Canadians have a better understanding, not only of disease but also of health status. This latter field is a growing field of interest and has profound consequences in terms of health prevention.
There will be 10 to 15 virtual institutes that will support and link researchers as part of a national team based in numerous institutions where excellent work is being conducted across Canada. For example, an institute may be established to focus on aging, another on women's health or dedicated to mental health or the treatment and prevention of diseases such as cancer or heart disease.
To offer a sense of how a virtual institute might work, let me provide members with an example. Consider an institute on respiratory ailments in which a focus is on the growing incidents of asthma among Canadian children. It could bring together a multidisciplinary research agenda to address the following: basic genetic research on asthma at a hospital in a city centre; clinical trials and evaluations of asthma therapies in various provinces; research by social scientists and public health officials on factors leading to asthma in children in rural areas; or evaluate local pilot projects to improve how our health system responds to childhood asthma. Any of those or all of those would be in play.
This integrative approach will build on the research base in our universities, our health and research centres, our teaching hospitals, federal and provincial governments, voluntary and private sectors, and all of these working in conjunction and with each other.
The CIHR will effectively transform Canada's research sector in this way. Research that has traditionally been performed in disciplinary separation will now be integrated across scientific disciplines.
Research that was once conducted in a context that was separate from delivery will now be performed with a view to the integrated health system. Research performed under a multitude of agendas will now be integrated into a national health agenda.
By creating a robust health research environment in Canada, the CIHR will build the capacity of the Canadian health research community and promote the discussion of ethical issues, the dissemination of knowledge and the application of health research.
As you know, Mr. Speaker, thousands of highly skilled Canadians are employed in the health sector. The CIHR will provide expanded training and career opportunities for our scientists and clinicians in all areas of research, inspiring a whole new generation of Canadians to view health research as a viable career choice. The CIHR will ensure that funding levels are competitive with other countries and that our best and brightest minds remain in Canada.
Keeping our researchers here in Canada is definitely a top priority, but this is not the only benefit of the CIHR. Canadians will benefit from the development of technologies, products and services and practices that will lead to new treatments and preventative measures. The CIHR will be a solid return on their investment.
Health research plays an important role in providing new information and analysis upon which the effectiveness of the health care system can be judged. It will contribute to the advancement of national standards and provide valuable support of the decision making process.
Collaboration and partnership will lead to the sharing of information among researchers wherever they reside and among stakeholders, thus improving dialogue across different frontiers and creating a transparent and inclusive process for the setting of the health research agenda.
A climate of innovation and discovery will stimulate research investment in the health and biotech sectors. The number of made in Canada breakthroughs will multiply and will multiply fast.
In closing, I would like to emphasize again, because it is important, that the CIHR will be focused on results, on knowledge creation, on discoveries and enhanced base of knowledge to improve the health system. It will create more highly skilled jobs in key sectors of the economy and, above all, it will create healthier Canadians.
As exciting as this venture may be for researchers, in the end all Canadians will benefit and the Canadian institutes of health research will be very good for Canada. As a result, I urge all members of parliament to support this very important piece of legislation in the interests of all of Canada.